Calculating machine



May 2 1940- E. F. BRITTEN, JR

CALCULATING MACHINE Filed sept. so, 1939 :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 kwmm sum m INVENTOR Edwin FBhitteq, J7 J lgTQRNi-N E. F. BRITTEN, JR

CALCULATING MACHINE Filed Sspt. 50, 19:59

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR May 21, 1940. E. F. BRITTEN. JR

CALCULATING MACHINE Filed Sept. 30, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I INVENTOR Edwi n PL BMIt n ,Jr.

Patented May 21, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE to Monroe Calculating Machine Company,

Orange, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application September 30, 1939, Serial No. 297,234

6 Claims.

The invention relates to calculating machines adapted for multiplication by the repeated registration method, and more particularly to means whereby a complete multiplier may be set in wheels adapted to control the calculation, either directly through the value entering mechanism or from devices wherein a constant multiplier value has been stored.

The invention constitutes an improvement of the mechanism disclosed in co-pending application Serial No. 186,072 filed January 21, 1938, by Edwin F. Britten, Jr., and entitled Calculating machines, and in the corresponding British Patent No. 509,747. Reference is made to these disclosures for the details of mechanisms for performing various functions of the machine not di rectly related to the present invention.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts as set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the keyboard, registering means and multiplier setting means of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the multiplier counting out devices.

Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of the counting finger drive.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of the constant storage devices and associated parts.

Fig. 5 is a left side elevation of the same.

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the intermediate gear shifting frame.

Fig. 7 is a left hand elevation of the machine, with casing removed and parts broken away, showing the multiplier setting controls.

Fig. 8 is a detail left side elevation of certain transmission gearing.

Fig. 9 is a detail elevation of the multiplier set-=- ting key lock.

In these drawings the numeral it? (Fig. l) designates a bank of value entering keys, adapted upon depression to rock bails fltl and thereby set selected values into the multiplicand register actuators 5 and into the multiplier control wheel actuators it, a plurality of columns of these ele ments being provided, into which a complete multiplier, and thereafter a complete multipiicand, are entered.

The multiplier having been entered by means of the keys l8, shaft 1 will be given a. single rotation, whereby the multiplier actuators 6 will transmit the values entered therein, through intermediate gearing 316 and 3i! to the multiplier control wheels 3.

The multiplicand is now entered in the actuators 5, through the keys l8, and the actuator shaft 4 is repeatedly rotated, under control of the wheels 3, giving a repeated registration of the multiplicand in the register wheels it, to represent the product.

The wheels 3 are successively "counted out or returned step by step to their original position by means of counting fingers M5 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3), mounted on a shaft I43 which has oneto-one ratio gear connection, lfil, etc., with the multiplicand actuator shaft t. The counting fingers M5 are normally held out of meshing relation with the teeth of wheels .3 by spring means, and are brought successively into meshing relation therewith during the calculation by means of projections I41 mounted on an intermittently rotated shaft I24, and adapted to engage the cam surfaces of guides I44, serving to slide the fingers I45 axially along shaft 3.

As the wheels 3 return to their original or zero position, control means will be operated to interrupt the cycling of shaft 4, the shifting of the register carriage and the resumption of cycling in the next ordinal position thereof, all in wellknown manner. The patent and application hereinbefore referred to disclose one example of mechanisms operating in this manner.

According to the present invention, the con stant multiplier value may be stored for future use in the intermediate transmission gears til to which end these gears are adapted to be shifted out of mesh with the teeth of the wheels t, and are provided with zero setting means, whereby the wheels may be individually returned into a fixed or zero position.

The shaft 384i supporting the gears ti l is slideably and rotatably mounted in the machine k frames 32, 33 (Fig. t). The gears and till] are loosely mounted upon shafts and w l respectively and are located in lateral alignment by means of a comb til, secured upon collars of levers 29, St, in which collars the shaft it or"; the gears Eli? is secured. Levers 2t, 3% also engage collars carrying shafts t and 383, the le-= vers 2.9, it, shaft s and comb til forming a laterally shiitalole frame on which the gears Slit, till! and the zero setting means are carried.

The zero setting means comprise zero teeth tit projecting laterally from the gears 31'! and a cooperating toothed slide Ml splined in the shaft 386 and movable into position to engage the teeth 626 by means of a earn 422, held against rotation by pin 423 (Fig. 6) in frame 33, and forming part of the collar in which lever 30 is secured. In the normal position of shaft 384, the slide 4" is held to the right, as viewed in Fig. 4, out of engagement with the teeth 326, by means of a suitable spring, tending to hold the slide in engagement with the low point 425 of cam 422. A complete rotation of shaft 384 will cause slide 4| 1lto pick up the wheels 311 individually, and return them to zero position.

If a value is to be retained as a constant, it is first entered by means of the keys l8, and is set in the wheels 3 in the usual manner. Thereafter, and before the calculation is begun, the intermediate transmission gears 311 are shifted out of mesh with the teeth of wheels 3, cleared to zero, and shifted back into mesh. Now, as the wheels 3 are counted back to zero during a calculation, the values are transferred therefrom into the gears 311. To set a stored multiplier value into the wheels 3, the gears 311 are cleared to zero while in mesh with the teeth of wheels 3, this operation taking the place of the setting of a key value by rotation of shaft 1. It is observed that after a constant has been stored in gears 311 other multiplier values may be entered by means of the keys l8, set in the control wheels 3 and counted out, without disturbing the constant, which may still be used whenever it may be desired. Further, it is to be noted that it will never be necessary to clear a constant from the gears 311 by a special operation, since the wheels are cleared in any case during the entering of a new constant.

The I multiplier setting and constant storage operations are controlled as follows:

Actuator shaft 1 is connected with a clutch 26 supported on a shaft 430 (Figs. 7 and 8), and clearing shaft 394 is connected through gearing 4I6, shaft 43| and gearing 21 (Figs. 5 and 8) with a clutch 401, supported on a shaft 432. Clutches 20 and 401 are driven through gearing connections 433 from an electric motor. The clutches are of well-known design. adapted to give a single cycle of rotationto'the driven shafts, and comprise driven clutch pawls 25, normally held against the tension of suitable springs by contact of detents 301 and 406, respectively, engaging the tails of the pawls. One or the other detent is lifted away from the related pawl by means of a rocker 319 pivotally mounted upon asliding plate 313. Rocker 319 has a hook end held selectively in position to engage a lug 300 of detent 301 or a lug 405 of detent 406, upward movement of plate 313 serving to engage the hook end of the rocker with the lug of the detentand raise the detent free of pawl 25. As plate 313 reachesits'upper position, one of two opposed arms of rocker 310 will contact with a related pin fixed in the framing of the machine, whereby the rocker will be centralized and the hook end thereof freed from the lug of the detent. The raised detent will therefore drop upon the periphery of a flanged extension of the driven clutch element, ready to drop into a notch of the flange and reengage the tail of pawl 25 as the clutch completes its rotation, whereupon the pawl will be withdrawn from the driving ratchet of the clutch and the driven parts brought to rest.

Rocker 319 is adjusted for operation of clutch 2G or clutch 401 by means of a link 404, yieldably connectedwith a lever 40l, fulcrumed at 402, by means of a coil spring 403, one end of which is clamped to the link and the other end to the lever. Lever 40| is operated by a hand lever 300, having an arm extending through the casing of the machine and another arm engaging a pin 408 of lever 40L Lever 300 is held in either of its two adjusted positions by means of a toggle spring 395, whereby the rocker 319 is held in adjusted position.

Plate 319 is raised, to operate the selected clutch, by means of a lever l5, fulcrumed at l6, link l4 and lever I2. An operating key I has connection through whiilletree I and link II with the lever I2, depression of said key serving to rock lever l2 against the tension of a spring 434 and thereby to raise the plate 318 to engage the clutch. Rocking of lever l2 will also, by means of a pin 382, rock levers 308 and 383, to close the contacts of a circuit breaker 99, interposed in the motor circuit.

In the position of the parts illustrated in Fig. '7, that is to say, with the operating knob of lever 300 located in its forward position, depression of key I will operate clutch 20 and thereby rotate the actuators 6, to set a value entered in said actuators into the multiplier control wheels.

Setting of the constant is controlled by a hand lever 410, this lever operating to shift the gears 311 out of mesh with the teeth of the multiplier control wheels; to throw lever 390 into its rearward position, thereby providing for the operation of clutch 401, and to rock lever l2 to operate the clutch.

Lever M0 is fulcrumed, in common with lever 300 at point 299, and is connected by means of a link 4 with an arm 2, fast upon shaft 3 (Figs. and 7), shaft 413 having a cam arm 4 engaging a roller fixed on the end of a shipper lever 4 l5 (Figs. 4 and 5). Shipper 4|! engages the gear 9 which ismounted on the fixed collar supporting the lever 29 of the shlftable frame 304, 29, 9, 42!, 30. Rearward movement of the operating button of lever 4" will, therefore, move the shifting frame to the right as seen in Fig. 4, to disengage the gears.

Lever 4l0 also engages a spur 421 of lever 300, carrying the operating arm of that lever backward along with the operating arm of lever 4", and thus positioning the hooked end of rocker 313 below the lug 400 of detent 400 related to clutch 401. I

Lever 410 has a lower arm provided with a pin 420 adapted to engage a contacting face of a link 419, one end of which is connected to the lever 12 and the other end of which has link connection 4" with lever 4| 0. Movement of lever 4" to operated position will, therefore, move link 4" forwardly and thereby rock levers l2 and I 0, to 4 raise the plate 310 and operate the clutch.

By means of the above noted connections, operation of lever 410, after a value has been set in the multiplier control wheels, will prepare the gears 311 for the storage of a constant, by clearing the multiplier value out of said gears while they are disengaged from the multiplier control wheels.

Upon release of lever 410 by the operator, it will be returned to normal position by a spring 315, leaving lever 300 set in rearward position, and allowing the shifting frame to be returned to normal position by a spring 429 acting upon the shipper 410. In this position of the parts, depression of key I will operate clutch 401, to set the multiplier wheels in accordance with a stored constant. Lever 300 may be adjusted back and forth between these two positions, as may be necessary in carrying out the desired calculations, the constant being set by operation of the'key I whenever the'lever is in rearward position, and

the constant ignored and a key entered value set by the depression of key I whenever the lever is in its forward position.

A feeling bail (Fig. l) is provided with teeth engaging zero notches of cams 68, fast to the multiplier control wheels 3, this bail being held in rocked position so long as any value remains set in any of the multiplier wheels, and having control connections, set forth in the disclosures of the application and patent above referred to, for insuring the operation of the machine until the entire multiplier has been counted out. Bail 14 has connection through shaft 13 with a pair of rocker arms 435 (Fig. engaging notched plates 436 secured to the shafts 430 and 43| Therefore, operation of either of the clutches 26, 401 will serve to rock shaft l3 and lift the teeth of bail M out of the notches of earns 68, just previous to the value setting operation.

A lock cooperates with feeling bail to prevent operation of key I or lever 0 so long as a multiplier value remains set in the control wheels 3. This lock comprises a lever 43'! (Fig. 9), fulcrumed upon the lever i2 and carrying a spring urged locking pawl 438, normally located above a. pin 4339, fixed in the machine framing. Bail I4 is provided with a lug 0, against which lever 431 is held in contact by means of a spring 4M. When bail i4 is moved out of the notches of earns 68, looking pawl 438 is moved downward, toward pin 439, snapping into position behind said pin as soon as lever key l or lever m is released, and acting to lock said key and said lever against further operation, so long as any of the teeth of bail M are held upon the outer peripheral portions of the related cams 68.

When the constant mechanism herein set forth is used in connection with the multiplier devices of U. S. patent application Serial No. 186,072 and British Patent No. 509,747, certain modifications of the control means are necessary, which, although not directly involved in the present invention, are herein set forth for the purpose of completing the disclosure.

The disclosures of the above noted patent and application provide for short-cutting the product calculation, by treating the higher value multiplier digits complementally. That is to say, a calculation involving the multiplier 53 will be effected as plus in minus 1, in two cycles of operation.

The means for determining the sign character of the registration has not been modified, but the setting of the unit in the higher order multiplier control wheel is herein efiected by means of a projection 293 (Fig. l) fixed on bne of the actua tor elements contacting with a finger 2% pro vided with a tooth extending into the zone of the higher order wheel Projection 2% having brought tooth of finger 295 between the teeth of gear tilt, a cam ill, mounted on shaft i, will engage the forward projection of the lever lid, rocking the levers it and it of the gears are about shaft 386, and thereby causing such of the gears Silt as are engaged by a finger 2% to ad vance an additional step of movement. Thereafter, the fingers 2% will be released from the projections and allowed to drop baclr to normal position under the influence of their springs, whereafter, earn ill will release lever 30, which will be returned to normal position and held therein by means of a spring 38.

I claim:

1 1. In a calculating machine adapted for multiplication by the repeated registration method and having digit entering means including differential actuators, multiplier control wheels settable by said actuators, and means for counting out values set in said wheels; intermediate transmis sion gears mounted in fixed ordinal relation to said control wheels, relatively adjustable out of and into mesh therewith and operable by said differential actuators, means for effecting relative adjustment of said intermediate gears and control wheels, and clearing means including zero teeth on the intermediate gears and elements operable in either relatively adjusted position thereof to determine the storage of a constant multiplier value or to effect the setting of the mlliltiplier control wheels in accordance with said va ue.

2. In a calculating machine adapted for multiplication by the repeated registration method and having digit entering means including differential actuators, multiplier control wheels settable by said actuators, and means for counting out values set in said wheels; intermediate transmission gears mounted in fixed ordinal relation to said control wheels, adjustable out of and into mesh therewith and operable by said differential actuators, means for adjusting said intermediate gears, and clearing means including zero teeth on the intermediate gears and teeth adjustable with-said gears and operable in either position of adjustment to engage the zero teeth to determine the storage of a constant multiplier value or to eifect the setting of the multiplier control wheels in accordance with said value.

3. In a calculating machine adapted for multiplication by the repeated registration method and having digit entering means including differential actuators, multiplier control wheels settable by said actuators, and means for counting out values set in said wheels; intermediate transmission gears mounted in fixed ordinal relation to and normally meshing with said control wheels, relatively adjustable out of mesh therewith and operable by said dilferential actuators, clearing means including zero teeth on the intermediate gears and cooperating elements operable in either relatively shifted position thereof, manually controlled means for relatively adjusting said intermediate gears to unmeshed position and for operating the clearing means, whereby the inter mediate gears may be prepared to store as a constant a value previously set in the control wheels, and manually controlled means for oper ating the clearing means to set the control wheels in accordance with a stored constant value.

In a calculating machine adapted for multiplication by the repeated registration method and having digit entering means including differential actuators, motor drive means for said actuators including a clutch, multiplier control wheels settable by said actuators, and means for counting out values set in said wheels; intermediate transmission gears mounted in fixed ordinal relation to and normally meshing with said control wheels, relatively adjustable out of mesh therewith and operable by said differential actuators, manually controlled means for relatively adjusting said intermediate gears to unmeshed position, clearing means including zero teeth on the intermediate gears and cooperating elements operable in either relatively shifted position thereof, motor operating connections for said clearing means in cluding a clutch, a motor key, a lever, and means settable by said lever to connect said key with the actuator clutch or alternatively with the clearout clutch, to control the setting in the dbl multiplier control wheels of a value entered in the actuators or of a value stored as a constant in the intermediate transmission gears.

5. In a calculating machine adapted for multiplication by the repeated registration method and having digit entering means including differential actuators, motor drive means for said actuators including a clutch, multiplier control wheels settable by said actuators, and means for counting out values set in said wheels; intermediate transmission gears mounted in fixed ordinal relation to and normally meshing with said control wheels, relatively adjustable out of mesh therewith and operable by said differential actuators, clearing means including zero teeth on the intermediate gears and cooperating elements operable in either relatively shifted position thereof, motor operating connections for said clearing means including a clutch, a motor key, a lever, means settable by said lever to connect said key with the actuator clutch or alternatively with the clearout clutch, to control the setting in the multiplier control wheels of a value entered in the actuators or of a value stored as a constant in the intermediate transmission gears, and a lever manually operable to relatively adjust the intermediate gears to unmeshed position, to set the first named lever to clearout position and to actuate the clearout clutch.

6. In a calculating machine adapted for multiplication by the repeated registration method and having digit entering means including differential actuators, motor drive means for said actuators including an operating key, multiplier control wheels settable by said actuators, and means for counting out values set in said wheels; means including a displaceable feeler adapted to sense the presence of a value in the control wheels, and a lock held in operated position by the displaced feeler to prevent depression of said operating key.

EDWIN F. BRITTEN, JR. 

